Recent Posts
Culture September 27, 2018
Death with a feminine touch.
Sexualized female assassins have become a staple of Hollywood. Think “Atomic Blonde,” “Columbiana” and “Kill Bill.” These films portray female killers as glamorous and exotic, along with witty quips and designer shoes to match. However, there are actual women from our past who have murdered key figures and completely changed history. Here’s why the names of these three female assassins have lived on.
Unlike other female assassins, Shi Jianqiao killed her foe proudly in front of multiple witnesses. Not only did she commit murder in public, she is perhaps the only woman ever to be pardoned for it.
She was born as Shi Gulan in 1905. Her father served as a Chinese brigade commander under the local warlord Zhang Zongchang, who was part of the Fengtian clique and rivaled the Zhili. In the 1920s, conflict broke out between Fengtian and Zhili groups.
In 1924, Zhang Zongchang and his troops were sent to capture southern lands from the Zhili. Sun Chuanfang, a Zhili warlord, counterattacked. In the process, he captured Shi Jianqiao’s father in a train station and beheaded him, displaying his head for others to see.
After receiving the news, Shi Gulan began planning her revenge. Around this time, Gulan changed her name to Shi Jianqiao, which translates to “raise sword.” Ten years after her father’s death, Jianqiao tracked down Sun Chuanfang. On November 13, 1935, she found Sun in a Buddhist shrine and shot him three times with a Browning pistol.
Instead of melting into the panic and chaos of the crowd, Jianqiao held her ground. She declared her responsibility for the murder. She explained her revenge by passing out hand pamphlets to witnesses and public bystanders.
Her story became a national debate. The majority of the public sympathized with her and saw her revenge as justice. However, the Supreme Court in Nanjing was reluctant to have public opinion sway the rule of law.
After two heavily publicized trials, the Nationalist government officially pardoned Jianqiao. With her actions legally justified, Jianqiao would go on to become a nationalistic symbol for Chinese revolutionaries.
We imagine most female assassins holding guns, but Charlotte Corday did the deed with a knife.
Charlotte Corday came from a noble family and received an education from a convent. Corday’s background— along with her sympathy toward Girondists, republican moderates— gave her ill feelings toward the French Revolution. She began to plan the murder of Jean-Paul Marat, one of the French Revolution’s most influential leaders.
Corday had originally planned a public assassination at the Bastille Day Parade, but the festivities were canceled. On July 13, Marat agreed to a meeting with Corday after she promised to bring incriminating evidence against major members of the Girondists.
Due to a skin disease, Marat met with her while in a bath. As he was writing down names, Corday took a knife from under her dress and stabbed him in the chest.
After the murder, Corday did not panic or flee. Instead, she waited for the police to arrive. During her arrest, trial and execution, she impressed and shocked the public by remaining completely relaxed. The Journal de Perlet stated that she “walked to her death with the greatest calm.”
Ironically, Corday’s attempt to hinder the French Revolution actually gave it some fuel. After his murder, many saw Marat as a martyr rather than a villain.
A failed assassin is still an assassin. In 1975, Sara Jane Moore shot a gun at President Gerald Ford. The bullet missed.
Moore was born as Sara Jane Khan in Charleston, West Virginia. Some claim that she was quiet during her childhood. In high school, she participated in the drama club, which likely prompted her acting aspirations. Eventually she became a nurse and worked as a volunteer bookkeeper for a food-distribution charity.
How did she go from quiet, bookkeeping, aspiring actress to attempted murderer?
Moore had two failed marriages and apparently abandoned three of her children. She was dismissed from her bookkeeping volunteer position. Around the time she made her assassination attempt, Moore had become heavily involved in radical leftist politics. According to the New York Times, she also got involved with the F.B.I. until she was terminated.
Along with her newfound zeal for politics, Moore also had mental health issues and was treated for her illness in the past. She had occasional fits of temper that would startle her neighbors and co-workers. One friend told the New York Times in 1975 that “Sarah seemed to live in a fantasy world.”
Another woman, Lynnette Alice Fromme, had also pointed a gun at the president. 17 days after this attempt, Moore made her move.
Upon firing, a Marine named Oliver Sipple noticed the gun and deflected her arm, saving the president. Forces immediately restrained and arrested Moore.
The police had apparently confiscated her .44-caliber the day before. “If I had my .44, I would have caught him,” she said.
Years later, the musical “Assassins,” which revolved around attempted assassinations on U.S. presidents, would feature both her and Lynnette Alice Fromme as main characters.
What? I thought this article only promised three female assassins?
It does. Although Mata Hari had a brief stint as a spy, she never planned to kill anyone. You’ll see lots of websites claiming that Mata Hari was a prominent assassin who indirectly killed 50,000 people through her work. These claims are wrong.
Instead, Mata Hari was set up. A French official told her to gather secret intelligence, but unbeknownst to her, a counter-espionage force was waiting to accuse her of treason.
After a rough childhood and a divorce, Margaretha Zelle MacLeod moved to France. This was where she shot to fame as a seductive dancer that captured the lustful imagination of every rich man at the time. Her stage name was Mata Hari.
In 1915, Hari accepted money to spy for Germany, but she never followed through with the job. Georges Ladoux, the head of a counter-espionage force, sent a team to trail her. They could not find any evidence of her spying.
Ladoux decided that arresting Hari would be a good way to bring confidence back to French troops. He promised her money, claimed to employ her as a French spy and sent her on a mission to Spain.
In Spain, she corresponded with Germans and discovered secrets for Ladoux. However, when she sent them, he did not reply. She returned to Paris, and he refused to see or pay her.
Later, Ladoux used her correspondence with the Germans to accuse her of treason. Her trial established the rumor that she had “caused to be killed about 50,000 of [French] children.” The trial sentenced her to execution, largely due to her sexual lifestyle.
She stood tall and proud in the face of her shooters, leading the supervising sergeant major to exclaim, “By God! This lady knows how to die.”
Three women used cunning, wit and charm to their advantage when planning their murders. One woman, however, was falsely accused and falsely executed for these qualities. History remembers infamy, but sometimes that infamy is unfair. It is often unfair particularly to women.
In a gruesome, morbid kind of way, these historical female assassins were extraordinary. Some of them even earned respect through their accomplishments. At the very least, we can all agree that they are fascinating figures, and we should all remember their names. Whether you remember them negatively or positively is up to you.
